HOJA DE INICIO 2020-2021
LEVEL C1
Welcome to the EOI. My name is Valentina MartÃn. I will be your teacher this course.
HOURS
Tuesdays and Thursdays.
- 16:15 to 18:35
- 18:45 to 21.05
Sessions on Tuesdays. Room 4
Online (zoom so far) on Thursdays. Same hours. You will receive a link to zoom every Thursday to join your class for a videoconference with me. You will need your book and a notebook near you.
MATERIALS REQUIRED
· Our textbook for this year is:
ENGLISH FILE 4TH EDITION ADVANCED C1.1 (Student's book and workbook with key pack)
Latham-Koenig, Oxenden & Lambert (Oxford University Press 2020)
ISBN: 9780194058186
- Aula virtual: In process
ATTENDANCE:
Regular attendance and active participation in class are vital to achieve the course objectives. Besides, attaining the level requires a lot of self-study
Dictionaries:
· A monolingual and/or bilingual dictionary (Oxford, Collins or Larousse). Try to get the latest edition.
PRESENTATIONS
You will be asked to give a presentation during the course. You will have to choose the topic from the ones that your teacher will provide you with and have appeared in previous exams.
Your teacher will give you feedback on your presentation and this will give you an idea about your strongest and weakest points. You may as well give your talk on one topic of your choice.
Remember: your teacher won´t make the end-of-the-course exam so she doesn´t know which topics you will be asked to talk about at the end of the year. You will find the topics for your presentations in this blog.
PRESENTATIONS (Monologue 3-4 minutes)
These are the monologues that have appeared in the exam over the years. Write your name next to one of them to prepare and deliver in the class. The person who has prepared the topic will have to give his/her presentation after having submitted the text to the teacher for correction. Alternatively you may deliver your presentation on a topic of your choice, one related to your field of interest.
1st: St prepares topic and outline. Time it and make sure you don´t exceed the time limit. Check pronunciation of new items
2nd: Give presentation and outline to the teacher. Teacher will correct it and give it back to student with feedback
3rd: Student practices at home. (make sure you know how to pronounce every Word)
4rd : delivery to the class (Ss gives presentation, using the outline)
4rd : delivery to the class (Ss gives presentation, using the outline)
4th: Teacher emails monologue to all the class. Be prepared to answer your teacher's questions on your production.
1. Family: Changes in the last two decades. New type of family in the 21st century. Having Children in the current social & economic situation. Parental authority. Ideal Parents: Qualities, Rights, Duties & Changing Relationship with Their Children. Leaving the nest vs living with your parents. Divorce in Spain: Social aspects.
2. Winners or Losers in life: Personality, Education, Luck. Becoming successful at a young age
3. Crowdfunding. Advantages & disadvantages. Other ways to get funds. The role of the Internet to get a job.
4. Productivity and how to improve it in Spain. Unemployment: Causes & solutions. Youth unemployment.
5. Learning English: Type of learner; learning process through the years, English compared to Spanish. Learning Languages. Dealing with problems/difficulties involved in learning.
6. Important People Who Have Influenced Your Life
7. Your Other Half. Dating agencies, meeting online, social interaction on the internet. Other ways to meet people in our society.
8. Another kind of conflict: Bullying. Causes. Effects. Solutions.: Youngsters: Discipline vs. Freedom; role of the media; responsibility
9. Spanish Legal System & Crime Rates In Spain. What could your government do to reduce crime? Street crime
10. Ubiquity of music: Reasons for; right to silence; importance of music in your life.
11. Big cities. Public transport in big cities; advantages and disadvantages; strengths and weaknesses (Madrid). Travelling by train. Self-driving cars
12. Self-help books: Reason for their success.
13. Royalties: Illegal copying/downloading, future of books, films & music. Why. Possible solutions. Intellectual property. Problems faced by artists. Protecting copyright.
14. Having a good sense of humour. Importance of humour. Pursuit of Happiness, The. What makes us happy. Role of money in happiness.
15. Shopping habits. Small vs. large shops; evolution of shopping; future of shopping.
16. Charities, money handled, and their role in society. Aid or Business. Working for a charity and raising funds for charity in the current economic climate. What type of events are the most popular? Is fund-rising widespread in Spain?
17. Health & Beauty: Trends. The perfect body. Obsession. Cult of Body, The. Physical appearance. Role of the media. Plastic Surgery: Obsession with looking good.
18. Mass Media: ICTs (Information & Communication Technologies). The future of the media. No more paper: Consulting information in the digital age.
19. Social Networking: Friends or Audience? Facebook, Twitter, Tuenti and modern communication. Social relationships: Popularity of networking websites; advantages/disadvantages of online relationships; Meeting people & keeping in touch in the future. Computer Skills: Acquired by teenagers and young people. Internet dependence. Video games (positive and negative features)
20. Neighbourhood Problems: Drugs, Filth, etc. Street crime. Street Drinking & Anti-social behavior associated with it. Solutions. CCTV: Security vs. privacy; threat of police state; Other forms of surveillance. Concern about security
21. School Homework. Is it necessary? Importance of free time and creativity. Schools: State vs. private. Home schooling. Bilingual education in Spain. Drop-outs. Current Problems of our education system. Importance of having a university degree. Education & Exams. How to increase motivation. Poor school results. Measures to improve the present system. Free to choose: practical vs. vocational studies
22. Graffitti. Urban art?
23. Alternative medicine & commonly-held beliefs about health & medicine. Healthcare System & the economic recession in Spain. Maintaining the National Health System. Health in the 21st century (lifestyles, anxiety disorders…)
24. the post-holiday syndrome. Bank holidays. Number of holidays in our country- too many or not enough?
25. Tourism In Spain and abroad. Ecotourism (vs. Mass Tourism). Being Eco-friendly
27. Animals and us. Services they provide to humans today. Animal Rights: Should bullfighting be banned? El Toro de la Vega, etc.
28. Taxation: Pros & cons of paying higher or lower taxes. How taxes should be spent. Taxing fattening food (a good idea?)
28. Importance of manners. Generational differences. Worldwide. On The Dot: Punctuality & Arriving Late. Political Correctness: Necessary or not?
29. Culture Shock: Comparison between different cultures. Shocking aspects.Immigration: Current Situation in Spain. Pros & Cons of Emigrating. Integration of Immigrants. Multiculturalism: Multicultural classrooms. Immigration trends. Future of multicultural societies. Working Abroad due to Spanish recession. Opportunity or Necessity. Living and working abroad. Reasons.
30. Football celebrities: Overpaid jobs. Money is killing sport. Limiting sportspeople’s earnings. Celebrities & The Right To Privacy.
31. Gender issues. Gender equality: Toys & games; traditional jobs for men/women; reverse discrimination. The situation of women in Spain. 2016
32. Global warming. Mankind’s effect on nature. Natural Resources. Protecting the environment: Saving energy, Consumerism. Alternative sources of energy.
33. Reality shows & the reasons for their success. Influence of television on our daily life. Trash TV: Gossip programmes
34. Globalisation and its effect on developing countries.
35. Meritocracy.
35. Meritocracy.
We will mark your presentation following these criteria:
- Range of vocabulary and grammar
- Accuracy
- Organisation (Cohesiveness, signposting, …)
- Register and appropriateness (giving enough information, varied and relevant...)
Signposting
Section of presentation | Signpost language |
Introducing the topic | The subject/topic of my talk is ... I'm going to talk about ... My topic today is… My talk is concerned with ... |
Overview (outline of presentation) | I’m going to divide this talk into four parts. There are a number of points I'd like to make. Basically/ Briefly, I have three things to say. I'd like to begin/start by ... Let's begin/start by saying that/commenting on ..... First of all, I'll... … and then I’ll go on to … Then/ Next ... Finally/ Lastly ... |
Finishing a section | That's all I have to say about... We've looked at... |
Starting a new section | Moving on now to … Turning to... Let’s turn now to … The next issue/topic/area I’d like to focus on … I’d like to expand/elaborate on … Now we'll move on to... I'd like now to discuss... Let's look now at... |
Analysing a point and giving recommendations | Where does that lead us? Let's consider this in more detail. Why is this important? |
Giving examples | For example,... A good example of this is... To give you an example,... To illustrate this point... |
Summarising and concluding | To sum up ... To summarise... Right, let's sum up, shall we? Let's summarise briefly what we've looked at... If I can just sum up the main points... Finally, let me remind you of some of the issues I've covered... To conclude... In conclusion ... In short ... So, to remind you of what I’ve covered in this talk, … Unfortunately, I seem to have run out of time, so I’ll conclude very briefly by saying that ….. I'd like now to recap... |
Paraphrasing and clarifying | Simply put... In other words....... So what I’m saying is.... To put it more simply.... To put it another way.... |
READERS:
Reading is one of the best ways to learn English. You will have to read at least ONE BOOK before Easter. Once you have read the book you will have to hand in your book review after Easter.
The library and the class library are at your disposal to take out books. It is also important to sign in the lending library list in your class whenever you take out or return a book. You can have the book for 15 days and the DVDs for a week. When you return the book it will be in lockdown for 6 days before another student can take it
These are only some websites that can help you write a book review. Use the info!
REMEMBER: PLOTS ARE TOLD IN PRESENT TENSES.
REMEMBER: PLOTS ARE TOLD IN PRESENT TENSES.
https://www.esleschool.com/writing-section-jurassic-park-book-review/
http://www.cristinacabal.com/?p=7595
If you need to contact me throughout the course you can do it at valentina.martinramos@educa.madrid.org
In January you will take an exam which will be identical to the June one. Your mark will ONLY give you feedback on your strongest and weakest points but will NOT be part of your end-of the course mark.
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL YEAR
Check out this important info
School rules.
